Patrick County Virginia USGenWeb Archives News.....THREE ARE READY TO GIVE SELVES UP ON CHARGE SHOOTING February 8, 1927
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Ron Martin cindyandron@bellsouth.net August 6, 2022, 10:32 pm

Daily Press, Newport News, VA February 8, 1927
          THREE ARE READY TO GIVE SELVES UP ON CHARGE SHOOTING
 Sheriff on Way to Take Trio in Custody in Connection with Death of Three Others 
                           Sunday Afternoon.
              BOOTLEGGERS' ACTIVITY ALLEGED TO BE CAUSE
   Shooting Follow Attempted Arrest on Felony Warrant Charging Liquor Making.

ROANOKE, February 7(AP) Ernest Shelton, Frank Chaney, and Ora Turner were 
placed in jail at Stuart at 8 o'clock tonight, following their arrest today at 
Fayerdale, in connection with the shooting to death Sunday afternoon of Dave 
Cox, his brother Maynard, and Turner Hall who were slain in a gun fight, said to 
have been the culmination of bootlegging rivalry, according to word received 
here.   They were taken to Stuart in custody of Sheriff S.B. Mays and his 
deputies.

STUART, Va., February 7(AP)Sheriff S.B. Mays late this afternoon was reported 
on his way to Fayerdale, Patrick County, to arrest Frank Chaney, Ora Turner, and 
Ernest Shelton, in connection with the shooting to death Sunday afternoon of 
Dave Cox, his brother Maynard and Turner Hall who are said to have been killed 
in an outbreak resulting from bootlegging activities.
   The three notified Commonwealth Attorney F.P. Burton, who was at the scene of 
the shooting this morning that they were waiting to submit to arrest, Mr. Burton 
said this afternoon on his return to Stuart.   Warrants were issued for them and 
Mr. Burton instructed Sheriff Mays to go to Fayerdale for the men.
  Turner Hall, in company with Frank Chaney, Ora Turner, and Ernest Shelton, 
according to information obtained from Mr. Burton on Sunday, went to the home of 
John Chaney at Fayerdale with a warrant for the arrest of Dave and Maynard Cox.  
The warrant had been obtained by Hall Saturday at Stuart, Mr. Burton said and 
charged the Cox brothers with felonies, in connection with operating a still and 
with having fired from ambush upon Bunyan Nichols, whom the brothers, it is 
said, mistaken for Hall.
  The trio is said to have found Dave Cox at John Chaney's home Sunday afternoon 
when they arrived about 4 o'clock.   Cox was lying upon a bed it was stated.   
He was arrested and disarmed, according to Burton.
  While this was taking place, it is understood that other persons at the house 
one of whom was said to be Ewell Nichols left hurriedly, ran a short distance 
and informed Maynard Cox and his sisters, who were passing in an automobile, 
that their brother was under arrest.
  The newcomers, according to accounts of the affair, entered the house and 
Maynard, the 16 year old brother of Dave Cox drew a pistol as he entered the 
room.   Turner Hall and Ernest Shelton are alleged to have had their guns 
leveled upon Dave Cox.
  Firing began and Dave Cox fell dead.  Almost at the same moment Maynard fell 
with a wound and as he sank to the floor he is said to have lifted his weapon, 
sending a bullet into Hall's body.   Hall did not die instantly while the 
younger Cox is said to have died immediately.  
  Each of the three slain men are said to have had three or four wonds.
  A glancing bullet flying through another room struck John Chaney in the eye, 
it is reported.   Another struck him in the foot.   His aunt, Mrs. Betty Chaney 
was wounded in the hand.  Both of them will recover.
  The sisters of the slain brothers were in the room when the shooting took 
place and according to one version of the affair one of them exclaimed; as she 
entered and found the men with pistols pointed at her brother, Don't shoot 
Dave.
  According to Mr. Burton, it was understood at Stuart when Hall secured the 
joint warrant that it was to be placed in the hands of a deputy sheriff for 
service.   It was not known whether Hall had been deputized.   His three 
companions, it was stated had not been deputized.
  The trouble between Hall and the Cox brothers began a short time ago Mr. 
Burton said when Hall's still was destroyed by revenue officers, who are alleged 
to have been supplied with information by the brothers.
  Hall, with Shelton, his brother in law, it is said, retaliated by raiding a 
still belonging to the Cox brothers, destroying the outfit and a quantity of 
whiskey at the same time driving the brothers away.
  This episode is said to have been followed about a week ago by the ambushing 
incident when Bunyan Nichols was wounded.
  It was as a result of this that Hall is reported to have sworn out the warrant 
charging, in addition to the shooting, illicit whiskey making by the Cox 
brothers.
DANVILLE, Feb 7(AP)While the sister of two of the participants looked on in 
horror, members of rival clans of Blue Ridge moonshiners living in the Fayerdale 
section of Patrick County, yesterday afternoon resorted to the age old mountain 
custom of settling their differences with smoking guns with the result that 
three men, one of them a youth only 16 years old are tonight cold in death while 
three others are lodged in jail at Stuart awaiting trial upon the charge of 
murder.   The dead are Turner Hall, 30; Maynard Cox 16, and Dave Cox 20, the 
last two being brothers.   The three under arrest are:  Ernest Sheton, Frank 
Chaney, and Ora Turner.
  They were brought to Stuart tonight by Sheriff S.B. Mays who arrested them at 
their homes near the scene of the shooting.   None of them offered resistance, 
having sent word to officers that they were awaiting arrest.
  In the meantime, according to Commonwealth Attorney Frank F. Burton, feeling 
is running high between members of the rival factions and officers fear that the 
torch of feudism, which for many years has smoldered in the hill country,  
rekindled by Sunday's ripe tragedy, may flare up anew to claim other lives.   
Maynard and Dave Cox are the brothers of Ewell Cox, who was killed in a gun 
battle about three years ago.

  Two others suffered wounds as a result of the shooting.  John Chaney was shot 
in the foot when he rushed into the room when the guns began barking.   He also 
had a narrow escape from being the fourth victim when a stray bullet grazed his 
temple and nipped off a piece of his ear, rendering hm temporarily unconscious.   
Mrs. Betty Chaney, his aunt, who was in an adjoining room, was wounded in the 
hand.


Additional Comments:
This is one of many stories across the state that published various details about 
The Fayerdale Tragedy which for some reason was published across the country in 
various newspapers because of the number of casualties.



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